Mini GF or Reverse Flow Offset

[Peaksy]

My original plan was to build a reverse flow offset out using scrap/leftovers in my father in laws pile of steel. My budget is pretty tight, as my wife doesn't understand me! I'm not looking to build anything huge, as it would mostly be used for family, with an occasional bigger cook.

I could probably get the reverse flow done for the cost of a gasket and some wheels, and some expanded mesh for the cooking grate.

I'm very interested in the ability to "set and forget" with a GF, and it will also be easier to source fuel/smoking wood than a full stick burner, as most wood that's easy to come by here in Aus is eucalyptus.

Since my initial look around the scrap yard, I found a couple of sheets of 1/4" stainless. One is about 5'x6', the other is massive, 5'x12'. There are a few smaller sheets as well as some 3/8 and 1/4 mild steel, which a a bit rusty. There may also be some lighter gauge stainless in amongst it all. I'm pretty sure I would get any materials for nothing. If I do go down the RF path, I may get the stainless rolled and make a fully stainless RF.

From my reading here, it's pretty obvious that the Mini GF would be a lot more complex and time consuming than the RF, but also that the end result would be much more suitable for me. Apart from a tiny high school project using O/A, I've never done any welding, but my father in law is a very accomplished welder, with several welder options. He has a lot of experience with stainless, fabricating all sorts of things for commercial fishing.

So a few questions,

Is the 1/4" stainless suitable for building a GF? I imagine it would be too heavy for outer skin, is it too light for other parts? If I was to do the GF, I would look at getting a Lotos LT5000 Plasma cutter (midsize) to cut with, would this be suitable for most of the cutting needed?

I don't want to buy the Mini GF plans only to find it is beyond me both in materials and ability, if it's not the wrong thing to do, can anyone give me a rough list of materials need for a Mini GF, that would make my budgeting and decision making easier.

Am I biting off more than I can chew for a first build?

[ajfoxy]

G'day mate. A lot depends on your welding ability, manual dexterity with hand tools etc. Stainless is a whole different animal to weld, more so if you are a beginner welder. 1/4 mild steel is a whole heap easier. However if you are an experienced welder, or know someone who is and would not mind welding your stuff together, then stainless is nice. But as I said it does require someone who knows what they are doing or else it can warp something fierce.
The mini GF is a great project. You will need 6mm (1/4) for the GF chute and a small bit of 12mm for the firebox. You only really need 1.5 mm to 2mm for the inside cook chamber and 1.2 to 1.5 for the outer skin. The thing is insulated very well. Which is another thing you'll have to look into... getting some form of insulation. In Brissie there is Bellis. That's where I get my insulation from. For insulating the inside of the tubes on the GF use bog standard fiberglass bats. One of the hardest things I found when building my GF is getting expanded metal.
So, if you are reasonably handy, can weld or know someone reliable who can do the welding for you... go for it. It's really addictive.

As for your missus not understanding you.... you are on your own, but welcome to the club.

[Chromeski]

I have purchased the plans, but have not started building yet. I love the idea of a gf smoker and I'm excited to use mine(when it's done).
The gf smokers are not all that budget friendly in my opinion. If you can source enough free materials then I say go for it, but I'm concerned dads scrap pile may not have what you need.
Another option worth considering is building a square or rectangle cooker instead of having tbs pipe rolled. Look at tube thread for MACK . you can be the first anywhere to have one made from stainless, although I'm afraid you may need to find a few more sheets

[pr0wlunwoof]

I have built both a reverse flow offset and a mini. If I had to do them over I would do the mini first. I use it every weekend and I love it. The reverse flow offset is on a small trailer so I can haul it around so that is nice for get togethers not at my house, but when I do that I use the gas burner I put down the center of it and really use it as a grill instead of a smoker. The mini definitely was a time and money suck, but the end result is something I want to use every weekend.
What I would focus on is the rest of your cooking life. Which one is going to bring the most happiness to your life with the least amount of effort. I believe that to be my mini GF as I can go low and slow better than any equipment my friends can buy.

[Peaksy]

What I would focus on is the rest of your cooking life. Which one is going to bring the most happiness to your life with the least amount of effort. I believe that to be my mini GF as I can go low and slow better than any equipment my friends can buy.

This probably sums what I'm looking at perfectly.

Thanks for all the feedback and information. I think the Mini GF is my preferred option if I can get things organised, so many advantages for me in terms of using it. The Mack looks great, but I would never fill it! I will have another look through the scrap pile (it's more of a mountain) to check what lighter gauge sheet is there, and also what square tube is available. The more material I can scrounge the better. One option I may consider is building an RF from available materials to sell to fund the GF, especially if I've built up some skills.

AJ, there is a Bellis in Melbourne, so that should work ok, and I found some expanded mesh on ebay, (Williamstown Metals) $A210 for 2400x1200.

Hopefully the new Mini GF plans will be available soon, and that they will come in metric too ;) (just for you AJ)

[ajfoxy]

Hopefully the new Mini GF plans will be available soon, and that they will come in metric too ;) (just for you AJ)

Haha... I don't fancy your chances that there would be a metric version of the mini plans. I think Frank has to slaughter a goat and sacrifice it to appease the Imperial Measurement gods every time he makes something metric available...

If you do go down the mini GF route and you have access to someone who has a cnc plasma/laser/water jet it is worthwhile getting the dxf files as well. That is if they don't want your firstborn and a kidney in payment. Some of those buggers have an over inflated idea of what they can charge for cutting steel. But if you are going to be cutting it out yourself with angle grinder/plasma or whatever then you can save yourself a few bucks by not getting the dxf files.

[Peaksy]

I'm thinking of bribing the father in law with a plasma cutter that he can keep when I (really mostly him) have finished. I'll get a rough quote, but I expect my kidneys will be at risk, as the firstborn has just turned 18, and the second is too feisty.

Plenty of scrap around for me to practice both cutting (and welding) if I go the plasma path.

[ajfoxy]

Pity you are all the way down in Melbourne. I have a hand held plasma which I am thinking of flogging very cheaply. I bought it in Australia but I suspect, like most of these things, it's original home was east of Beijing. It does a fairly good job of anything up to around 10mm after that it is severance cut only.
Hare and Forbes sells a brand for around 600 bucks new, which will take you to 12mm. If you want to dip your toes in at the Hypertherm level expect to stump up around 3.5 grand for a 45XP. Definitely a cut above (pun intended), but if you are only going to use it for one or two smokers, I'd be aiming at the lower end.

[pr0wlunwoof]

As far as plasma cutter go I bought a Lotos LTP5000D for cheap. It does the job and for the $339 I paid you cannot beat it. As far as metal cost for the gravity I think I paid less than $350 and I did have the firebox metal "donated". You can go thicker for the skin of the cook chamber etc it will just make it weigh more in the end. Make sure you leave room in your budget for the PID controller and fan, that is where the magic is.

[The Czar]

I checked and we do offer one set of metric plans but I can tell you that we are aware of the metric demand and are planning on converting plans to it in the near future


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[Peaksy]

I'm getting some serious push back from the wife, now I'm thinking of alternative funding ideas! The Lotos LTD5000 is what I have been looking at, good to know it gets the job done.

I actually went out and measured the larger sheet of 1/4 inch stainless, it's much bigger than I guessed, comes in at 5'x20'. I found lots of 2 inch square tube, and maybe enough 1 1/2" to get the job done. I would need to repurpose it, which would involve some cutting and clean up. I found some more thinner gauge stainless sheet, some of which would need some reshaping back to flat, some that is flat. It should go close to requirements.

Now to get working on the wife.

[ajfoxy]

If you have access to lots of 2" tube, don't get hung up on the plans that say you should use 1.5". With the GF you can make the cook chamber a tad bigger if you need. So use whatever you can get the most of. I think bending 6 mm stainless without some heavy machinery is going to be interesting if you need to. I'd be cutting and welding as opposed to bending 6mm stainless.

[Peaksy]

If you have access to lots of 2" tube, don't get hung up on the plans that say you should use 1.5". With the GF you can make the cook chamber a tad bigger if you need. So use whatever you can get the most of. I think bending 6 mm stainless without some heavy machinery is going to be interesting if you need to. I'd be cutting and welding as opposed to bending 6mm stainless.

I would be flattening out thin sheet, I think it's 1.6-2mm. My father in law may have something to bend thin sheet. He's on his winter migration to your part of the country for a couple of months, so I'll have to call him to check.

[ajfoxy]

He's on his winter migration to your part of the country for a couple of months, so I'll have to call him to check.

Clever man, your father-on-law.

[Dirtytires]

Reality check....everybody needs one once in a while (especially me!)

You want a new smoker. You want to use stainless (which is difficult to work with) yet you don’t have a lot of welding experience. Funding is tight yet you have this mountain of scrap “behind the house.” And lastly, your wife is not convinced that the best use of your time and money is to build a smoker.

We have all been there. On every point.

Why not scale it back a bit. The mini is great but will require a lot of hours, someone else to weld it and a lot of scrounging. Might i suggest you do a small simple build like a traditional or reverse flow offset? The build will be easier, take less time and you can do it yourself for less money. (And that is how you ‘sell’ it to your better half.) Then, you spend the next year or two cooking great food on it and impressing your friends.

About that time, your wife will want you to cook for a huge summer party for 30 people and THAT is when you bring up the bigger gravity smoker project.

I used my store bought offset for 8 years before I was able to get support for a big build. And now she loves it.

[pr0wlunwoof]

Reality check....everybody needs one once in a while (especially me!)

You want a new smoker. You want to use stainless (which is difficult to work with) yet you don’t have a lot of welding experience. Funding is tight yet you have this mountain of scrap “behind the house.” And lastly, your wife is not convinced that the best use of your time and money is to build a smoker.

We have all been there. On every point.

Why not scale it back a bit. The mini is great but will require a lot of hours, someone else to weld it and a lot of scrounging. Might i suggest you do a small simple build like a traditional or reverse flow offset? The build will be easier, take less time and you can do it yourself for less money. (And that is how you ‘sell’ it to your better half.) Then, you spend the next year or two cooking great food on it and impressing your friends.

About that time, your wife will want you to cook for a huge summer party for 30 people and THAT is when you bring up the bigger gravity smoker project.

I used my store bought offset for 8 years before I was able to get support for a big build. And now she loves it.

That is exactly what I did, and I had to fight the you already have a smoker why do you need another smoker argument.

Do what you want and what will make yourself happy. Tend to her needs as you are responsible for supporting her, but at the end of the day your responsible for your own happiness and she should support your en-devours as long as your not hurting yourself or the family unit.

[Peaksy]

Reality check....everybody needs one once in a while (especially me!)

You want a new smoker. You want to use stainless (which is difficult to work with) yet you don’t have a lot of welding experience. Funding is tight yet you have this mountain of scrap “behind the house.” And lastly, your wife is not convinced that the best use of your time and money is to build a smoker.

We have all been there. On every point.

Why not scale it back a bit. The mini is great but will require a lot of hours, someone else to weld it and a lot of scrounging. Might i suggest you do a small simple build like a traditional or reverse flow offset? The build will be easier, take less time and you can do it yourself for less money. (And that is how you ‘sell’ it to your better half.) Then, you spend the next year or two cooking great food on it and impressing your friends.

About that time, your wife will want you to cook for a huge summer party for 30 people and THAT is when you bring up the bigger gravity smoker project.

I used my store bought offset for 8 years before I was able to get support for a big build. And now she loves it.

I think you've hit the nail on the head.

My latest (it does change every other day) plan is to build an RF out of a 100lb propane tank.

This should tick most of my boxes, that being: 1. Increased capacity from Weber Kettle. 2. Low cost, most material will be free. 3. Develop some welding skills. 4. Relatively straight forward for a beginner builder. 5. Keep the missus happy! Hopefully I can source some good smoking wood without too much difficulty.

I'm pretty sure my father in law would love to teach me to weld. I've understated his capabilities, he built himself a fishing trawler from scratch, including fit out, and has decades of experience welding everything from 3/4 inch plate to 1mm stainless. He's retired, and loves a project.

Thanks everyone for their input, I really appreciate it. I'll make sure to start a thread when I start building. I'll start putting material aside for a potential future Mini GF build while I'm pulling stuff out for the RF. If the RF build goes well, and the smoker works well I might look at building a second one to sell to fund a Mini.

[Frank_Cox]

Hopefully the new Mini GF plans will be available soon, and that they will come in metric too ;) (just for you AJ)

Haha... I don't fancy your chances that there would be a metric version of the mini plans. I think Frank has to slaughter a goat and sacrifice it to appease the Imperial Measurement gods every time he makes something metric available...

hahahaha OMG! brother, you know me too well!!!!!

[Dirtytires]

Sounds like a good plan, and thanks for taking my reality check with a good sense of humor as I mean no disrespect.

My plan started out as a quest for a $6000 trailer rig and $1800 to ship it cross country to me. My Reality hit was that for the cost of shipping I could build a REALLY nice patio unit and I could build it exactly how I wanted. Now that I have the smaller rig, I’m super happy with it and am glad I didn’t mess with a trailer. I still may, on the next one, but I’m a happy camper and we all eat well!

[Peaksy]

I made the mistake of looking at Squiggle's Wombat build thread. It's more complicated, but what a great looking unit, plus the increased functionality it brings.

Note to self, baby steps are difficult when you can't even crawl, let alone pole vaulting.